Collins Cobuild English Grammar (138 page)

Reporting statements and thoughts

7.29
    If you want to report a statement or someone’s thoughts, you use a reported clause beginning with the conjunction
that
.

He said
that the police had directed him to the wrong room
.
He wrote me a letter saying
that he understood what I was doing
.
Mrs Kaul announced
that the lecture would now begin
.

In informal speech and writing, the conjunction
that
is commonly omitted.

They said
I had to see a doctor first
.
She says
she wants to see you this afternoon
.
He knew
the attempt was hopeless
.
I think
there’s something wrong
.

In each of these sentences,
that
could have been used. For example, you can say either
They said I had to see a doctor first
or
They said that I had to see a doctor first
.

That
is often omitted when the reporting verb refers simply to the act of saying or thinking. You usually include
that
after a verb that gives more information, such as
complain
or
explain
.

The FBI
confirmed that
the substance was an explosive.
I
explained that
she would have to stay in bed.

This kind of reported clause is often called a
that
-clause, even though many occur without
that
.

Note that some relative clauses also begin with
that
. In such clauses,
that
is a relative pronoun, not a conjunction.
Relative clauses
are explained in paragraphs
8.83
to
8.116
.

verbs used with
that
-clauses

7.30
    Here is a list of verbs that are often used as reporting verbs with
that
-clauses:

accept

acknowledge

add

admit

agree

allege

announce

answer

argue

assert

assume

assure

believe

boast

claim

comment

complain

concede

conclude

confirm

consider

contend

convince

decide

deny

determine

discover

dispute

doubt

dream

elicit

estimate

expect

explain

fear

feel

figure

find

foresee

forget

gather

guarantee

guess

hear

hold

hope

imagine

imply

inform

insist

judge

know

lament

learn

maintain

mean

mention

note

notice

notify

object

observe

perceive

persuade

pledge

pray

predict

promise

prophesy

read

realize

reason

reassure

recall

reckon

record

reflect

remark

remember

repeat

reply

report

resolve

reveal

say

see

sense

speculate

state

suggest

suppose

suspect

swear

teach

tell

think

threaten

understand

vow

warn

wish

worry

write

Note that some of these verbs are only used in reported speech in some of their senses. For example, if you say
He accepted a present
you are using
accept
as an ordinary verb.

A few of these verbs can or must be used with an object that refers to the hearer. See paragraphs
7.75
to
7.76
.

Some of these verbs, such as
decide
and
promise
, can also be used with a
to
-infinitive. See paragraphs
7.39
and
7.45
.

Some other verbs, such as
advise
and
order
, can be used as reporting verbs with
that
-clauses only if the
that
-clause contains a
modal
or a
subjunctive
.
That
-clauses of this kind are discussed in paragraph
7.43
.

position of reported clauses

7.31
    You usually put the reporting clause before the
that
-clause, in order to make it clear that you are reporting rather than speaking directly yourself.

I said that I would rather work at home.
Georgina said she was going to bed.

However, if you want to emphasize the statement contained in the reported clause, you can change the order and put the reported clause first, with a comma after it. You do not use
that
to introduce the clause.

All these things were trivial, he said. She was worried, he thought.

If the reported clause is long, you can put the reporting clause in the middle.

Ten years ago, Moumoni explained, some government people had come to inspect the village.

Reporting questions

7.32
    As well as reporting what someone says or thinks, you can also report a question that they ask or wonder about.

Questions in reported speech are sometimes called
reported questions
or
indirect questions
.

the reporting verb

7.33
    The reporting verb most often used for reporting questions is
ask
. Questions can be reported in a more formal way using
enquire
or
inquire
.

I
asked
if I could stay with them.
He
asked
me where I was going.
She
inquired
how Ibrahim was getting on.

BE CAREFUL

7.34
    When you report a question:

you do not use interrogative word order

you do not use a question mark.